Moment of Truth
by Stelena-Beautiful
Summary: Kelly just might end up playing the role of "runaway bride" on her wedding day... A Joey and Kelly story dedicated to the amazing Lynn!


_**Kelly tries to make things work with John but she can't because there's someone else in her heart. This is dedicated to my buddy, Lynn (the ultimate Jelly fan!). I hope she and all of you like it!**_

**Moment of Truth**

**Chapter 1**

"Oh my gosh! You look so pretty," Jessica Buchanan enthused as she swept into the bridal vestibule, one hand on her ever-growing stomach and the other clenched around the stems of a huge bouquet of lilies.

Kelly stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked the part, she admitted to herself, but she didn't _feel_ the part. Not even close.

She fluffed her skirt and turned to look at Jessica. "Thanks, Jess. It means a lot to me that you and Cristian are willing to stand up for me, especially when pretty much no one else will."

Jessica smiled and set the flowers down on the chair beside Kelly. She leaned over and gave her best friend as tight of a hug as she could around her pregnant belly. "I just want you to be happy, Kelly."

"I – I am," Kelly said. She realized her voice had faltered but also knew that she could write it off to pre-wedding jitters. She had been married a few times now and yet somehow, it never got less flustering. And the idea of spending her life with someone who wasn't Joey –

_Wait, where had that thought come from?_ She wondered and she tried to shake the idea from her head. Joey didn't want her. He would much rather mourn his fraudulent marriage to Aubrey. And Kelly was okay with that. Sort of. But she did hate to see him hurting so much.

Kelly forced a smile. "Anyway, only ten minutes to go," she said and her feet took to tap-tapping away on the carpeted floor. Jessica took notice and raised an eyebrow. "I know, _I know._ I shouldn't be so nervous. It's not like I haven't done this a few times before."

"Every bride is entitled to nerves on the big day," Jessica said. She pointed to Kelly's veil and comb. "Need help with that?"

"Please," Kelly said. "It only weighs about a ton."

Jessica smiled as she reached for the veil and train. She picked it up and nodded. "Okay, it's definitely kind of heavy."

"Don't hurt yourself," Kelly said and helped Jessica lift it up. Jessica fixed it in her hair and smoothed Kelly's blonde tresses back with the comb.

"You look amazing, Kelly," Jessica said. "The prettiest bride ever."

"I don't know about that." Kelly sniffled and looked away from Jessica's gaze in the mirror. She tried to discreetly dab at the tears that were suddenly gathering in her eyes and then spilling over.

"Your makeup," Jessica cried.

"I know. I know!" Kelly said. "This is all wrong."

"Kelly, we can fix it," Jessica insisted.

"Jess, I wish you could but-"

"These aren't happy-slash-anxious tears, are they?" Jessica asked. "These are 'I think I'm making a mistake' tears, aren't they?"

"No. Yes. _Maybe?_ I don't know!" Kelly said and swiped at her teary face. "It's a bride's right to be emotional on her special day though right?"

"Of course but – Well, you love John right?"

"Of course," Kelly quickly said. "I mean, we fit so well together… I'm happy to be getting married." Kelly's bottom lip trembled and she bit down on her tongue for a moment. "Okay I'm a mess, Jessica. Tell me – please tell me - that I'm doing the right thing here."

"I can't," Jessica said. "Only you know what's right."

Kelly nodded. "Okay I am going to pull myself together and go get married."

"I support you in whatever you decide, of course, but –"

"But what?"

"No, never mind."

"C'mon, Jessica, talk to me here. If there's something on your mind, spill it or forever hold your peace."

"I am just wondering if you're this upset because you're not really ready to marry John. Because there's someone else in your heart ... maybe."

Kelly turned away from Jessica and took to pacing the small room. "I can't go there, Jessica. You don't know how hard I've tried not to love him."

"Joey?"

Kelly swiped at another tear. "Yes! I poured out my heart to him more than once and he rejected me so me thinking about him like this… _I am such an idiot!"_

"Hey, stop beating yourself up here, Kelly. You are not an idiot. You're confused maybe but –"

"The one thing I've_ never_ been confused about is the way I feel for Joey," Kelly admitted. "I loved him from the second we met and I – I still do."

"Why don't you tell him then?"

"I have!" Kelly cried. "Before he married Aubrey and then after they got a divorce, and he just didn't respond. Not like I was hoping he would anyway."

"Well if I know one thing about Buchanan men, Kelly, it's that they're stubborn as ox. More stubborn than that actually. When they've been hurt, they shut down and it's not pretty, but if you love my brother enough, you can get through to him."

"Maybe not. He probably still hates me for the whole debacle with Kevin."

"I sincerely doubt that's what this is about. I think he's just stubborn and scared – as scared as you are - that things can't work out. He doesn't want to open himself up to heartache again but if you just tried one more time, I believe - I really believe- that he would let down that wall of his and let you in. If there's a doubt in your mind about marrying John… You owe it to everyone involved to figure out what you really want."

"I want Joey," Kelly said hoarsely. "But I am not going to throw myself at him again. I won't ever humiliate myself like that again. Joe had every opportunity to tell me how he felt and he didn't. I am not going to throw away my relationship with John on the off-chance that Joey might be harboring some latent feelings for me."

"You can't marry a man you're not totally in love with," Jessica protested. "Believe me I've done that before and all it leads to is more heartache. It took over a decade for me to find my way back to Cristian. We wasted so much time – just as much time as you and Joey have."

"I don't want to hurt John … He asked me to marry him in good faith. I know it wasn't easy for him to put his heart on the line like that."

"What about your heart?" Jessica asked.

"Stop…"

"I will stand by you in whatever you decide to do but just be sure you're doing the right thing for yourself. I honestly didn't come here to trash your wedding, I swear. I just want you to be happy and I see the way you look when you even say Joey's name."

There was suddenly a knock on the door. Kelly's eyes flashed to Jessica's. "Who is it?" Jessica called out.

"It's John. Is Kelly in there with you?"

Jessica looked at Kelly. Kelly was tense as could be – so tense that her shoulders actually ached with the rigid stance she was stuck in. "It's the moment of truth," Jessica whispered.

Kelly nodded. "Kelly?" John asked.

Kelly sighed. "Yes, John, I'm here. Can we - can we talk for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure," John said.

Kelly sighed and made her way to the door. "I'm coming," she said quietly. She was mindful that her groom was going to see her before the wedding – and that it was supposed to be very bad luck - but the way she was feeling now, she knew somehow that there probably wasn't going to _be_ a wedding.


End file.
